The Over-the-Hill Gang (1969) (TV)

Director:

Jean Yarbrough

Writers:

Jameson Brewer (writer)
Leonard Goldberg (story)

Release Date:

7 October 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Western

Plot:

A retired Texas Ranger and his three aging pals are hired to clean up a lawless town.

Plot Keywords:

Town | Ranger | Texas Ranger | Aging | Mayor

Cast

Walter Brennan	...	Nash Crawford
Edgar Buchanan	...	Jason Fitch
Andy Devine	...	Judge Amos Polk
Jack Elam	...	Sheriff Clyde Barnes
Gypsy Rose Lee	...	Cassie
Kristin Harmon	...	Hannah Rose (as Kris Nelson)
Ricky Nelson	...	Jeff Rose
Pat O'Brien	...	Captain Oren Hayes
Chill Wills	...	Gentleman George Agnew
Edward Andrews	...	Mayor Nard Lundy
Dennis Cross	...	Sheriff
Rex Holman	...	Deputy Dolby
Lillian Bronson	...	Mrs. Louise Murphy
Myron Healey	...	Deputy Tucker
Bruce Glover	...	Deputy Steel

Runtime:

75 min | USA:73 min (2005 DVD release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:Unrated

Company:

Thomas/Spelling Productions

Trivia:

This is Gypsy Rose Lee's final performance.

Quotes:

Nash Crawford: No Ranger retires perpendicularly.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Alice: The Over-the-Hill Girls (#8.6)" (1983)

Passable movie. Far from great, but is a fun enough way to pass an hour

"A man never really sees himself 'til he looks at the friends he once knew" – Captain Oren Hayes

An 'All-Star veteran cast' stars in this made for TV film, as we see faces such as Walter Brennan (Rio Bravo), Edgar Buchanan (McLintock!, Welcome to Hard Times), Andy Devine (How the West Was Won), Jack Elam (Once Upon A Time In The West), Chill Wills (McLintock!), Pat O'Brien and Edward Andrews. Captain Oren Hayes (O'Brien), who was a Texas Ranger in his prime, travels to a small town called Boulder in Nevada to visit his daughter and her husband Jeff. Jeff is running for election in the town, but he is up against Mayor Nard Lundy, who is running for re-election. He is backed by a drunken, sheep judge, and a trigger-happy sheriff and his deputies. Hayes decides to clean up the town and re-in store law and order, and make the people of the town live in freedom without the threat of the sheriff and his crew. He enlists the help of his fellow Rangers, who are all old and scattered across the country. Jason Fitch (Buchanan), has very bad eye-sight now in his old age, but is still a hit with the ladies. Nash Crawford (Brennan) sits and reminisces of his past experiences with the Rangers, and tells of his exploits to his two grand-children. And 'Gentleman' George Agnew (Wills) spends his time getting thrown out of saloons for cheating in poker games. The four all reunite in the town of Boulder and set about cleaning the place up and running Lundy and his people out of town. Only problem though, they will have to revert to their old instincts to outsmart them – as their drawing gun days are over, and they are very rusty.

"The Over-The-Hill Gang" isn't a great movie; but it's still a fun movie and it's worth watching to pass an hour on some rainy afternoon. This film marks the final movie of prolific director Jean Yarbrough, who had directed films such as "Hillbillys in a Haunted House" and "She-Wolf of London" (These sound utterly ridiculous). He does a good job here with this film, and it is a very fun movie, but it's severely lacking in brilliance and it turns out to be a passable film at the least. The story is written by Jameson Brewer, based on a story or story idea, I'm not sure, by Leonard Goldberg.

As the poster boastfully proclaims, the film is sported by an 'All-Star Veteran Cast'. Now, it's just me and being from the generation that I'm from, but frankly I'd never heard of any of these actors before. But nonetheless, I thought that the majority of them were good. Pat O'Brien delivers a solid performance as Captain Hayes, and the rest of the cast I found enjoyable, especially Chill Wills and Jack Elam. But one actor I couldn't stand and who got on my nerves was Andy Devine who played the irritable Judge Polk. The film was followed by two made-for-TV sequels; "The Over-The-Hill Gang Rides Again", all the actors reprised their roles except Pat O'Brien; and "Once Upon A Texas Train" , made in 1988 and only saw one actor from the original starring – Jack Elam, and this time he played Jason Fitch.

A passable, fun enough movie that will appeal to western nostalgics because of the old familiar faces.